>> bob: yesterday, senator from hawaii, excellent man who died and yesterday he was lying in state. at the capital. there is a picture, poignant one of bob dole, the former senator from kansas. a great man. who was standing -- do we have the picture of dole? standing at the casket, saluting. they are two great americans. it wish him -- i wish him a great trip to heaven and bob dole, a wonderful human being. >> kimberly: that's it for us at "the five." set the dvr for the christmas special monday at 5:00 p.m. eastern. for all of us travelling home for the holiday. have a great trip. good night, everyone. this is a fox news alert. i'm john roberts in for bret baier this friday evening. president obama came out moments ago to address the fiscal cliff. saying he still thinks a deal could happen. but that now is not the time

for self-inflicted wounds. this is after house speaker alternate way out didn't make it to a vote in the house. we have fox team coverage. ed henry focuses on a tale of two white houses with messaging. but first, mike emanuel looks at where the republican goes from here and what speaker boehner had to say about it today. >> after last night's unexpected withdrawal of the speaker boehner's plan "b," many hope plan "c" develops quickly. >> how we get there, god only knows. >> candid moment with house speaker boehner as talks to address the fiscal cliff yet to produce a deal. the speaker acknowledged trying to bridge the differences with the president has been difficult. >> i told the president on monday, these were my bottom lines. the president told me that his numbers, $1.3 trillion in new

revenues, $850 billion in spending cuts, was his bottom line. that he couldn't go any further. >> so boehner spent time and energy this week on trying to advance plan "b" designed to extend the current tax rate for all, but those earning $1 million or more. the g.o.p. leadership recognized it didn't have the votes last night it was pulled. speaker predicted it would pass. today explained went went wrong. >> there was a perception created that that vote last night was going to increase taxes. i disagree with the characterization of the bill. but the perception was out there. >> the timing wasn't good since boehner has to win re-election as speaker. in senate, democratic majority leader was barely able to contain himself. >> we new the so-called plan "b" was no plan at all. it couldn't pass the senate. it couldn't pass the house either. too bad, speaker boehner

wasted a week on a futile, political stunt. >> haldemocratic whip steny hoyr said partyshan time is over. with no deal, the house majority leader struck a cooperative tone. >> we stand ready to continue in dialogue with this president. to actually fix the problem. >> most of congress has gone home for christmas. house members were told they would get 48-hour notice if they need to return. at this point the senate is due to return next thursday. john? >> so the can is kicked down the road more. mike emanuel in congress. thanks. chief washington correspondent ed henry live in the white house briefing room with the administration latest effort to reach a deal. with a last minute pitch from the president. the president seems to be saying go home for the holidays, take a deep breath. ref lax. come back. get it done. >> good evening, john. high drama here. when the president is leaving

for hawaii in 90 minutes from now. first, though, he met at the white house with senator reid and he called the speaker boehner and came out on the podium behind me. he laid out three-point plan that he thinks can pass if ten days. extend tax cut for 98% of the public. extend unemployment benefit for 2 million people. come back to deal with spending cut and deficit reduction. he said that was achievable by january 1 to avoid the cliff. after last night, unclear whether anything can pass. >> just as the economy is really starting to recover, and we're starting to see optimistic signs. we have seen, actually, some up-side statistics from a range of areas clouding housing, now is not the time for more self-inflicted wounds. certainly not those coming from washington. >> president obama top advisors were quick to dump on speaker john boehner. declaring he is backed in a corner after the fallback debacle. >> they went from plan "b" to plan c'ya later.

they couldn't even pass that was, was an embarrassment. >> in private, the president's advisors admit they're more afternoon rehenceive. they believe mr. obama has the upper hand with the public, if the market takes a big hit, the commanderrer in chief will face his share of heat for washington dysfunction. appoint that republicans are hammering. >> the u.s. economy is at stake here. millions upon millions of families are counting on to us do something. look, the president's job. it's his job to find solution that can pass the congress. he is the only one who can do it. >> the president's response this week has been to make sure he is already compromised. >> in the course of the negotiations, i offer to compromise with the republicans in congress. i met them halfway on taxes. i met them more than halfway on spending. >> in terms of the spending cut, it's important to note the president's new three-point plan, the

short-term bill did not mention the sequester, the massive spending cut coming at the beginning of the year to the pentagon and other federal agencies. figure out what happens there. he urged lawmakers to go home and cool off for christmas and drink eggnog. get everybody to calm down. he is going to hawaii in 90 minutes but then he told us see you next week. he said he will go to hawaii before new yoreor holiday but essives we're told to deal with this. >> put rub in the eggnog. get relaxation. ed henry, thanks. uncertainty rattled the stock market. the dow fell 121 points. s&p 500 gave back 14. the nasdaq finished behind 29. busy day in washington today. president obama also picked senator john kerry to replace hillary clinton. as secretary of state. if confirmed he will take questions about the time the questions about attack in

benghazi, libya, are unanswer it. intelligence sources told fox there are multiple suspects in custody connected to the attack. adding that the u.s. access has been blocked. wendell goler looks at the kerry pick in light of libya. >> on the surface, president obama first cabinet nomination of the second term might seem to be the easily confirmed by the mostly close knit member of senate. >> in extraordinarily distinguished senate career, chairman of the foreign relations committee, john played a central role in every major foreign policy debate for 30 years. >> in addition to his work on the hill, massachusetts democrat john kerry has been unofficial white house emissary in egypt and afghanistan, as well as pakistan and the sudan. it was kerry's 2004 presidential nomination that launched then senator obama national career. mr. obama may have owed him but he said there is no question that kerry is qualified for the post. >> he is not going to need a lot of on-the-job training.

he has earned respect and trust of the senate colleagues. democrats and republicans. >> kerry emergeed as front runner when ambassador susan rice withdrew her name for consideration in wake of what critics say were misleading statements about the attack on the benghazi consulate that claimed lives of the ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. republican lawmakers made clear rice confirmation hearing would have been combative at best. >> get to the heart of the matter. i don't question her patriotism. but she was eager to tell a story that did not make a lot of sense. >> kerry's nomination may not end the benghazi dispute. republicans want pentagon study to find out why there were no military access nearby and determine if the marine guards should be placed at more overseas installations. they want to know what the president and secretary of state clinton knew before, during, after the attack. they want state department cables and other documents. and they want to hear from >> player: clinton before voting on kerry. >> they are stone walling

here. we are not getting the information that is available to make intelligent corrective action decisions. >> player: clinton recovering -- >> reporter: >> player: clinton recovering - -- >> reporter: >> playerrecovering from concus. >> chuck hagel is considered for defense secretary issued a strong apology for gay slur he made a decade ago. when clinton tapped hormel as ambassador to luxembourg, he described him as openly gay. he said today "the comments were insensitive and do not reflect the view or totality of the public record. i apologize to any american who question my commitment to their civil rights." president become bam led tribute in honor of the late senator inoue at memorial

service at the washington national coneed ral this morning. he was second longest serving senator in u.s. history. he died monday and was 88. later on, national rifle association offers its ideas for protecting america's children from the school shootings. coming up next, american vet should be on his way home after his mexican vacation. turned in to a nightmare. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] campbell's green bean casserole. it's amazing what soup can do [ coughs ] [ baby crying ] ♪ [ male announcer ] robitussin® liquid formula soothes your throat on contact and the active ingredient relieves your cough. robitussin®. don't suffer the coughequences™.

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call... and lock in your rate for 12 months today. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? well, despite all the doomsday predictions about today, we're still here. bret repeated last night, we were never worried but many people were. thousands across the globe gathered, waiting for the world to end, along with the mayan calendar. the internet rumor, conspiracy theories and major motion picture drove folks to turn out en masse in mexico, france, russia, britain,

serbia, turkey, china and elsewhere. now the big question, since we're still here, what to to do about dinner? it could be end of traumatic stay in mexican jail for former u.s. marine arrested on vacation. correspondent steve harrigan has the story of an effort to get their son home for the holidays. >> john hammer's family goal was to get him home by christmas now. his parents, lawyer and congresswoman all say they expect his release today. >> amen, hallelujah, wonderful early christmas president for the family. the community rallied for john's liberty. >> the 27-year-old former marine is a combat veteran who served in iraq and afghanistan. after treatment for post traumatic stress disorder he and another former marine bought a used winnebago and planned surfing trip through mexico and costa rica. hammer's family maintains he declared the antique rifle he

planned to use the hunt birds to custom agents on both sides of the border. he was arrested after entering mexico a taken to the notorious prison filled with drug cartel where for a time he was chained to a bed. his parents began to receive phone calls that threaten john would be killed unless money was sent by western union. after initial efforts to bring him home failed his family mounted a public campaign. enlisting friends and elected officials. two congressmen planned call for national boycott of mexico tourism industry if hammer was not net free. john hammer senior went to the texas boarder to meet his son and the two will likely drove home together. he said he wasn't sure his son could handle a flight after four months inside a mexican prison. >> steve harrigan in miami. thanks. egypt official news agency says the president appointed 90 people to parliament upper house a day before the second

round of a referendum on highly contentious draft resolution. no zo con tense, that things have gotten violent. correspondent leland vittert has more for us. >> chanting with our blood, our soul, we defend islam, supporters of a local hardline islamic cleric rallied as the friday prayers ended outside the main mosque in the second largest city of alex sand dryia. almost on cue, the violence began. and younger members of the opposition began hurling rocks from behind the line of riot police. soon, the scene devended in scrum of rock throwers, tear gas and baton yielding riot police trying to keep the ide separated. opposition leaders said it's preview of the violence the come if mohammed morsi gets his way at the ballot box. tomorrow, the second half of egypt votes on a draft constitution that critics say begins the process of turning

the arab world populist country in an islamic state. at the halfway point, those in favor of the move lead the vote by a double digit margin. saturday includes voters in mostly southern egyptian provinces, typically poorer and experts say likely to favor the islamist by wider margin. the latest round of violence began last month when morsi gave himself almost king like powers bridging thousands of people to the street in protest and forcing the army to ring the presidential residents with tanks. the speed at which morsi is pushing through constitution that limits the free speech and women's right, while being based largely on shiria or islamic law is increasing fears that the muslim brotherhood is ruling egypt by that old adage. "one man, one vote. one time." john? >> leland vittert in jerusalem. thanks. still ahead. solutions to flip the script when it comes to debt and deficit. first, the national rival

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officials gathered on the step of town hall where the bell rang in memory of every life lost in newtown, connecticut. here in washington, national rifle association laid out recommendations to prevent another massacre. plans met with derision from some quarters. and james rosen has been

following that. joins us. >> good evening. >> the largest gun rights organization pushed back against the gun control lobby with an indictment of the hollywood studio, gaming industry. news organization. and the conglomerates that own them. >> child growing up in america today witnesses 16,000 murders. 200,000 acts of violence by the time he or she reaches the ripe old age of 18. throughout it all, too many in the national media, their corporate owners, and their stockholders, act as silent enablers. if not complicit coconspirators. >> after expressing the horror, outrage, grief, and earnest prayer for families of newtown, he called for placement of trained arm guard at every school in america. protesters -- >> why is the idea of a gun good when it's used to protect

the president of our country. or our police. but bad when it's used to protect our children in our schools? there are kids. they are our responsibility. it's our right to protect them. >> protesters with signs the nra is killing our children and nra has blood on their hands disrupted the remarks. democrats leading push for renewed ban. said the statement did not represent view of the own membership. >> the prevalence that allows the shooter to expel, 20, 30, 60, 100 and even more bullets

and distraction how easy is it to purchase weapon at gun show with no background check at all. >> at the white house, president obama released video message to all of those who signed petition clamoring for tighter gun regulations. >> i asked for the proposals by january. i will push for them early in the year. i will do everything to advance the efforts. if there is even one thing we can do as a country to protect our children, we have a responseability to try. >> lapierre announced retension of the hutchison to develop model school safety program that each school can tailor to its own needs. >> reasonable fellow. see what he comes up with. thanks. a week after he was accused of child sexual assault, william b. arey resigned as the director general and ceo of moose international. he will be replaced by scott heart, currently the executive

director of moose child city and school. the presentation release issued today by moose did not mention the assault allegations. most holiday travelers are back on the move again after a big snowstorm caused plenty of delays. only a few dozen flights were canceled in chicago today. that compared to hundreds yesterday. but hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are without power in wisconsin, iowa, nebraska, michigan, and illinois. our series the cost of spending concludes tonight with possible solutions at a close look at the leadership of house speaker john boehner after last night's vote debacle. stay with us. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee tastes dreadful.

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how you doing? my name is steve. my family's lived in this neighborhood for years. recently, things got so tight we had to go to our local food bank for help. i lost a lot of sleep worrying about what the neighbors might think. that is, until i saw them there, too. how'd i do, steve? a little stiff. you could have done a little better. what? come on.

you know, i have an academy award. yeah, but not for playing me. announcer: play a role in ending hunger. visit feedingamerica.org/hunger and find your local food bank. grapevine is taking friday night off to continue with the news. we're 11 days from the fiscal cliff deadline. we told you earlier, the vote that did not happen, may have put john boehner speakership in jeopardy. but not everyone thinks this means the end of the line for him. chief political correspondent carl cap ron explains for us. >> the morning after failing to convince the party to support the fiscal cliff, john boehner said he is not worried that the setback could cost him his speakership. >> no, i'm not. >> while we have not been able to get vote to avert the tax increases, you don't think they weren't getting that on

me. they were dealing with the perception that somebody might accuse them of raising taxes. >> republican candidate campaign against raising any income tax rates this year. so when two to four dozen fiscal conservatives held the line to say they would oppose the plan on rate hike last night, boehner knew it would be depeteed. >> victory for conservative principles because the leadership strayed from the principles. the proposal over the weekend that the speaker offered was $1 trillion tax increase. perhaps a year long extension of the raising of the debt ceiling. those are things that the republicans do not support. >> important show of support, house majority leader cantor appeared at boehner's side and the rank and file republicans are coming to the speaker's defense amid mounting criticism from the stamp conservatives. >> that is the same 40, 50 chuckleheads all year starting with hr-1, the congress screwed this place up. you know, and he has done everything in his power to make nice to them an bring

them along, make them feel included. it hasn't mattered. >> i don't fault him. >> they're both scrambling for leverage and last-minute position. >> i like john boehner but gee whiz. i mean this is a pretty big political battering he has taken. maybe he is more concerned as some said about his election to be returned as speaker. >> this isn't john boehner's problem to solve. he has done his part. he has bent over backwards. >> it's unclear what the house members might return to washington. but on january 2, without a deal. massive tax hikes and spending cuts ensue. january 3, the house elect the officers for the next congress. more now, most expect boehner will be re-elected speaker. john? >> carl cameron, thank you so much. all week we have taken a look at the problems of the government spending, more than it takes in, in depth from a variety of angles. tonight, fifth and final part

of the series the cost of spending looks at solutions. here is bret baier. >> the urgency we hear about our country's fiscal situation from politicians sounds well, urgent. >> washington has got a spending problem. not a revenue problem. >> what is lacking are the revenue. >> there has to be revenue in addition to cuts. >> deficit could crush future generation. >> the nation has been unsustainable fiscal path for some time. >> the clock is ticking, we're running out of time. >> then there is that national debt clock again. always in the background. reminding both parties whatever the solution they need to happen quickly. they need to be big. because for many it's hard to get their head around how big a problem we face. experts agree they have to pay off the debt and return

america to fiscally sustainable path. how much would some of the most talked about solutions save? shutting down the post office on saturday would help save about $3 billion. changing medicare eligibility from 65 to 67 would bring back $6 billion. plan proposed by senator tom coburn that cuts non-semidefense programs, that would save $7 billion. capping deduction at $25,000 would keep $68 billion safe. propose additional taxes on the top 2% of income earners well, that would bring in $82 billion. so hypothetically if all of the proposed solutions two be enacted we would spend $166 billion less a year. that seems like a lot, right? it is. but not compared to how much we spend a lot. which is $3.5 trillion. that is what we spent in 2012. even less if you compare it to

the total debt. $16 trillion. and rising. so enough about the problem. and how small the possible solutions are, how to we as a country start, start to deal with the massive issue? economist john taylor wrote the book "first principles" five keys to restoring america prosperity. >> the problem was created in washington and can be fixed in washington. i have to think in terms of the economics the best thing to do in economics. for me, that is to gradually reduce spending as shared gdp. reduce growth rate. go back a few years before the crisis. that shouldn't that hard to do. that is what a family would be doing if they were borrowing too much. they would go back to where they were before the problems began. that is really number one, number two. we have an opportunity now to reform our tax code. that will also stimulate economic growth and work on the high unemployment rate. longer term, there are some

reforms. social security, medicare, particular, that can redouse really what is it expected to be explosion of spending. in to something what is more sensible, more sustainable. >> former democrat senator evan bayh narrows the solutions down to two categories. >> number one, getting, you know, future rates of entitlen't spending under control, particularfully the healthcare arena. those are the big numbers. secondly, even modest increase in rate of growth of the economy. even half a percent more per year. compound it out over 10 to 15 years. that generates huge money. which is easier to sol the problem. >> alice ridlin one of the only people to be on both of the prominent debt commission. simpson bowles and another where she was a cochair. >> we hammered out a report. it turned out to be similar to the simpson-bowles report, because the arithmetic drives you there.

you have to slow growth of healthcare entitlement, put social security back on firm foundation and raise revenue through reformed tax code. everybody who looks at it comes out that way. now i think a very substantial substantial member of congress of both parties understand that. but they are caught in a political game of blaming each other. >> economist author of the book "classical economic principles and wealth of nations." >> if you want to get the economy growing at a healthy rapid rate in order to do it, you will have to cut the government cost. public programs. either direct government spending or regulatory compliance expenditures or total. unfortunately, at least in the regulatory compliance area, we're moving in the opposite direction.

>> arthur brooks is optimistic. >> now is a better time than ever. a golden opportunity to do what we should have done a long time ago. we have an opportunity to turn the entitlement crisis around in ways we could haven't three or four years ago, though we needed to do it three or four years ago. the key thing we have to remember is not let this slip away. the fact that we are in the crisis today presents america with an opportunity to help save itself. >> the question is whether lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will see that as well. in washington, bret baier, fox news. >> 11 days and counting down. where are we now on the fiscal cliff stalemate. the fox all-stars coming up on the latest development. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery.

i just spoke to speaker boehner. and i also met with senator reid. in the next few days i asked

leaders of congress to work toward the package that prevents a tax hike on middle class americans, protects unemployment insurance for 2 million americans. and lays the groundwork for further work on both growth and deficit reduction. that is an achievable goal. as we leigh town for a few days to be with the families for the holidays, i hope it gives everybody perspective. everybody can cool off. everybody can drink some eggnog. >> obama about an hour ago encouraging lawmakers to go home for the holiday, come back and get a deal done to avoid the fiscal cliff. bring in the panel. steve hayes for "weekly standard" with us, as well as a.b. stoddard associate editor of the hill. syndicated columnnist charles krauthammer. this was your lightning round topic but we are moving it up so you start us off. are we going to get a deal before the 2nd of january or go tumbling off the cliff? >> it looks more and more likely that we will go off the

cliff. president obama will make an evident at a band aid. disappointing deal. won't get debt reduction, or affect the entitlement liability. it's very disappointing the situation we're in. no one tried harder than boehner to get a deal but it's beyond his criminal at thi cont. president obama plan "a" was nev enough. they don't like raising taxes and to get debt ceiling increase put off for a year or two they are looking for deep spending cuts. they don't want to waive the sequester or pause sequester. they want in addition to the sequester another $1 trillion in cuts. so the two sides are so far apart. if president obama wanted toresd by offering much cheaper cuts. moving the marginal rate threshold up to $500,000 or

$600,000. unchaining the cpi protection as he is trying to exempt bunch of people. but it doesn't look like he is going to do that. >> stein, the idea of a scaled-down agreement, preseven tax cut for people making less than $250,000. stave off the deepest sequester cut. president obama would need to get agree in the the senate, all the democrats in the house on board. 26 republicans. 26 republicans would sign on to that? >> there might be if bane says to republicans vote however you want to vote. we neat to get out of this. in fact, people may think i'm crazy. i suspect some will. some people already do. but this is the first time in a year i think there is an actual silver lining for republicans. none of the options that we have been discussing here for the past several months was a good alternative for republicans. good outcome for the republicans. but at least in terms of the politics you have potential for there is a deal reached and stripped-down deal, the president, harry reid and

democrats larmly with some republicans in house, the rest of the republican congress says he owns this. this won't have anything with spending cut. spending more. raising taxes. the president will own this. the republicans are blamed in short term for being stubborn. they are already blamed for that. in the long-term if you think the country is center right country and republicans benefit when there is a contrast between democrat and republican party, if you think the policies won't work and i think they won't you want to contrast. this could be a good outcome for republicans. >> this was said today. let's listen to this.

>> that is the same 40, 50 chuckleheads all year with hr1 and the congress that screwed this up. he has done everything in the power to make nice and bring them along. make them feel included. but this isn't mattered. i don't fault him. he has done his best. >> speaker boehner has done his best. tea party republicans will give him a lump of coal for christmas. how does boehner come out of this? what kind of a deal can he put is not >> the statement we heard from the congressman calling his own people chuckleheads, shows that the president won. i argued a month ago this was never from the president perspective, never about fiscal issues. economic issues.

he wants four years for his own agenda to enact. what to do? destroy them and fracture them, which he has done. this is clever tactically. insisting that the one thing that they had to agree to was increase in tax rates. if hoving only interested in fiscally balancing the budget he would have said i don't care how you get the money. but he insisted on rates not because there is an economic issue but a wi to have the house divided. call each other chuckleheads and a speaker who not deposed extremely weakened. this sets him up to have his way over republicans who are

in a civil war in the house. >> boehner runs for re-election on third of january, too. stay right there. hold the thought. lightning round up next. friday night. we'll be right back. stay with us.

i'm very proud to announce my choice for america's next secretary of state. john kerry. i think it's fair to say that few individuals know as many presidents and prime ministers, or grasp our foreign policies as firmly as john kerry. this makes him a perfect choice to guide american diplomacy in years ahead. >> president obama earlier today, busy day for him, announcing john kerry as the nominee to replace hillary

clinton as secretary of state. kicks off the lightning round. do you think he will sail through for confirmation? >> yes, i do. i think he will work on the benghazi problem because he doesn't want anything to happen on his watch. >> how does he work on the bening problem? >> i don't know. a real question. early test for his tenure as secretary of state. republicans will demand answers and they should. >> obviously, security for the consulates around the world is going to be the big issue for kerry. does he say look, give them everything they need? he has to work in a budget. they were using local militias, local law enforcement, charles, because it was too expensive to send americans over there. >> no longer. after incident like this where you lose the first ambassador in 30 years, you will get all the money you want. there won't be anybody in congress to deny them a penny. he will ask for money and get all of it and secure the embassy. >> next topic, gun control and the debate and what to do about school shootings. the vice president of the nra held a press conference today

and he says there needs be law enforcement officer in every school across america. let's pick it up from there. >> what if when adam lanza started shooting his way to sandy hook elementary school last friday, he had been confronted by qualified armed security? will you at least admit it's possible that 26 little kids, 26 innocent lives, might have been spared that day? >> now his proposal was met with derision from a number of quarters today. but a.b., when you look at the lone wolf massacres like this, people who were never really identified as being much of a threat, are there different ways to stop it? >> what he said today was laughable. his conservative allies in the congress are not going to

spend $6 billion to provide armed personnel at every single school. that is the definition of big government right there. we can't afford that. going to happen at movie theaters >> where you can get gunned down in the dark? or safeway parking lot like in tucson? it's -- really what happened today at the press conference didn't do gun advocates any favors. in fact, it was like the old joke that chain was secretly on the payroll of the democratic national committee in bush years. he only helped the gun control side with his remarks today. >> here is what michael bloomberg said today. shameful evasion of the crisis in our country. they offered paranoid vision of dangerous, violent america where everybody is armed and no place in safe. agree or disagree? >> i have to a mitt i don't take seriously much that mayor bloomberg says because this is the guy that wants to regulate every aspect of american life including fountain drinks. having said that, i was surprised that wayne lapierre spent as much time as he did

point to other potential reasons for crisis. he had a solution, he should have come out, laid out his solution. ask for conversation about it. then moved on. what also became clear today is many people calling for a national conversation in which we would take in different view points and discuss them respectfully didn't actually mean what they said. >> dr. krauthammer you have written extensively on this, including a terrific column today. what are your thoughts on this idea afterren armed guard as the last defense if a gunman is trying to come in a school? >> true. but a.b. right. there is infinite number of soft targets in the country. you can't have a guard at every street corner, which is essentially what the nra is saying. so it's not practical, and not aesthetic idea either. the problem with the fun control side is that unless you go the road of australia, essentially disarmed the population entirely, existing weapons had to be turned in,

it's not going have any effect. that is never going to happen in america with the second a.m. and gun culture that goes back all the way to the founding of -- >> what is the solution? >> i'm not sure that gun control will do anything. even though i wouldn't oppose the legislation. i would try with no hope of succession. i think the one area where we can improve is we have very lax civil commitment laws. it's extremely hard to commit. jared loughner, guy who was the shooter in tucson, everybody knew him, knew he was a grenade aboutbe to go off. but you couldn't lock him up until he killed. there is obviously something we can do. if we change our laws on commitm. >> last topic, chuck hagel pre-emptive strike. apologized for comments about hormel before he becomes the nominee. trying to get on good ground among people in congress, particularly republicans who look at him and say not sure we want him for secretary of defense. what do you think, after

pulling the nomination of usen rice does the president have to push it through? >> yes. he will fight hard. he cannot pull two people. >> i think it becomes difficult for democratic senators to support somebody even after this apology. on gay issues, who said things he said. you have expect the republicans to oppose him. john cornyn importantly said today he would. i think it will be a tough fight if the president puts him up. >> emen in thely qualified, pass the political test? >> there are reasons why he should be denied and one reason republicans will oppose him is the current secretary of defense under democrats said he would not support the reduction, the cut in pentagon that are contemplated and it would hollow the military. hagel is in favor of that. republicans want a secretary of defense to destroy military. i think not. >> thanks for joining us today. have a great holiday. ceive you back on the other side of that. that is it for the panel. stay tuned for a friendly warning. we'll be right back. ♪

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